Sunday Morning Politics

Most of you know that I am a bit of a political junkie. Considering that I've been on payroll for two different campaigns and a full-time volunteer on a third, you might even say I'm almost a professional - as long as your definition of "professional" doesn't include always wearing shoes.

A common ritual among political junkies is the vacuum-like consumption of several influential Sunday morning talk shows. In order of prestige, they tend to go like this: Meet the Press, This Week, Fox News Sunday, Face the Nation, State of the Union, the McLaughlin Group, and the Chris Matthews Show. Prestige is not everything though - in order of how good/useful/insightful they are, they tend to go like this: This Week, Meet the Press, the Chris Matthews Show, the McLaughlin Group, Fox News Sunday, State of the Union, and Face the Nation (only really useful for Bob Schieffer's ~2 minute commentary at the end that occasionally displays moments of greatness).

These shows as a genre do have their critics however, many of whom argue that they do nothing but reinforce status-quo inside-the-beltway thinking or provide a mouthpiece for government officials pushing agendas. For more egregious examples of the latter, see: Meet the Press since Tim Russert died, This Week since the Obama administration took over, Fox News Sunday every single fucking minute of every single fucking show.

I'm aware of their weaknesses, but they sure don't stop me from watching these shows every single week religiously. They're all available online, and along with the Daily Show make up my ONLY consistent media intake.

But I have to admit, their weaknesses are wearing on me. I'm craving a bit more; the political junkie in me is nervously scratching my neck.

I may have found my answer: Fahreed Zakaria GPS, Sunday mornings on CNN. I haven't watched the show, but I have seen Fahreed speak a couple times now and I really respect the man for his insight, intellectual ability, surprisingly-tuned journalistic instincts, and blending of inside-the-beltway thinking with inside-the-Ivory-Tower thinking (hey, at least it's some kind of diversity of analysis). So now that I stumbled across this clip the other day and it blew my mind, I may have to add GPS to my Sunday list.

Take 10 minutes and enjoy:

Eliot Spitzer, Naomi Klein, David Frum, and Stephen Dubner on Bank Bonuses